The AWK (Adventure With Kevin) continues

Traffic jam exiting Huddart Park onto Kings cost me seconds that would've given me my best Strava time!Just got back from 20 hours in Dallas, business meeting on behalf of bicycle shops everywhere, super-secret mission of course! But arranged so that I wouldn't miss either my Tuesday or Thursday rides, as I try to hold onto the form I gained from riding in France during the last part of the 'Tour. Unfortunately, Kevin has missed a few rides here and there, and yet he still tries to hang with the fast guys, with a not-so-great result. Tuesday he had a pretty good seizure right after finishing Kings, and today, possibly unrelated but possibly not, he developed something aptly called an "ice-pick headache" that did a number on him up on Skyline, causing the two of us to have to head back down 84 & home, missing out on the west-side Old LaHonda loop.

Rule #1- When riding, don't pass another cyclist unless you're 100% certain you can stay in front of him or her! So why did I pass Kevin here?But before that happened, Strava says I got my second-best time up through the park (and why it's "second" I don't know since it shows a time identical to my fastest, so why isn't it tied for first?), and if not for the odd traffic jam at the top, I would have likely been a few seconds better! Of course I paid for that, but nevertheless maintained a steady grind that reeled in and passed Kevin, arguably disobeying the most-important rule of cycling. Don't ever pass someone that you can't stay in front of. And I probably would have stayed in front of him, had I not held back on the wide, open section, allowing him to catch back up (I wanted to make sure he was OK). And what happens next? As soon as he caught his breath, boom, he's off, leaving me in the dust. Nice kid.

And now I go for a number of days without scheduled rides. This is going to hurt. Normally I'd do some serious miles at serious intensity on Sunday, but late Saturday night I'm on a red-eye (with my daughter Becky and brother Steve) to Wisconsin for the annual Trek dealer show. Too much food, no serious rides, and not back at the usual grind until Thursday. I'm hoping I can find a way to get a few good miles in while I'm gone. We'll see.